Council of The European Union.Brussels.6 December 2011. EMPHASISES that Joint Programming in research in the areas of the five proposed initiatives:'Healthy and Productive sea and Oceans','Urban Europe - Global Urban Challenges, Joint European Solutions','Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe','Water Challenges for a Changing World','The Microbial Challenge - An Emerging Threat to Human Health'.
will contribute to the reduction of fragmentation of research efforts of Member States and will step up the mobilisation of skills, knowledge and resources, with a view to advancing and strengthening Europe's leadership and competitiveness of research and innovation in these fields. INVITES the Member States, participating in the framework of the five initiatives respectively, to:
i.Develop a common vision, based on a multidisciplinary approach, on how cooperation and coordination in the field of research at the European level can improve addressing the challenges presented in the initiatives in order to ensure the efficiency of the joint efforts of Member States. ii. Develop a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) establishing medium to long term research needs and objectives in the areas of the five initiatives. The Strategic Research Agendas should be further developed towards an implementation plan establishing priorities and timelines and specifying the actions, instruments and resources required for its implementation. The contents, work programmes and implementation plans should take into account the scientific, technological, societal and innovation impacts of the supported research.
iii. Jointly implement the Strategic Research Agenda, including via their national research programmes taking into account the Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research developed by the High Level Group on Joint Programming (GPC) or other national research activities.
iv. Set up and maintain an efficient common management structure in the field of the five initiatives respectively, with a mandate to establish appropriate conditions, rules and procedures for cooperation and coordination and to monitor the implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda. Such management structure should be lean, efficient and flexible and should take account of the Voluntary Guidelines on Framework Conditions for Joint Programming in Research developed by the GPC.
v. Build on the existing expertise within the Commission and take into account the voluntary guidelines on framework conditions when developing and implementing the Strategic Research Agenda with a view to coordinating the joint programming initiatives and ensuring overall coherence with other relevant programmes and initiatives, while avoiding unnecessary duplication with existing and future Union initiatives in these areas.
3133rd COMPETITIVENESS (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space) Council meeting
